Tuesday, March 31, 2009
"Girl" poem by Jamacia Kincaid
Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry; don't walk barehead in the hot sun; cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil; soak your little cloths right after you take them off; when buying cotton to make yourself a nice blouse, be sure that it doesn't have gum on it, because that way it won't hold up well after a wash; soak salt fish overnight before you cook it; is it true that you sing benna in Sunday school?; always eat your food in such a way that it won't turn someone else's stomach; on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming; don't sing benna in Sunday school; you mustn't speak to wharbfflies will follow you; but I don't sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school; this is how to sew on a button; this is how to make a button-hole for the button you have just sewed on; this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming; this is how you iron your father's khaki shirt so that it doesn't have a crease; this is how you iron your father's khaki pants so that they don't have a crease; this is how you grow okrbafar from the house, because okra tree harbors red ants; when you are growing dasheen, make sure it gets plenty of water or else it makes your throat itch when you are eating it; this is how you sweep a corner; this is how you sweep a whole house; this is how you sweep a yard; this is how you smile to someone you don't like too much; this is how you smile to someone you don't like at all; this is how you smile to someone you like completely; this is how you set a table for tea; this is how you set a table for dinner; this is how you set a table for dinner with an important guest; this is how you set a table for lunch; this is how you set a table for breakfast; this is how to behave in the presence of men who don't know you very well, and this way they won't recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming; be sure to wash every day, even if it is with your own spit; don't squat down to play marblebsyou are not a boy, you know; don't pick people's flowerbsyou might catch something; don't throw stones at blackbirds, because it might not be a blackbird at all; this is how to make a bread pudding; this is how to make doukona; this is how to make pepper pot; this is how to make a good medicine for a cold; this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child; this is how to catch a fish; this is how to throw back a fish you don't like, and that way something bad won't fall on you; this is how to bully a man; this is how a man bullies you; this is how to love a man; and if this doesn't work there are other ways, and if they don't work don't feel too bad about giving up; this is how to spit up in the air if you feel like it, and this is how to move quick so that it doesn't fall on you; this is how to make ends meet; always squeeze bread to make sure it's fresh; but what if the baker won't let me feel the bread?; you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread?
Monday, March 30, 2009
Too Deep in a Jungle of Tangled Streets and Miserable People
Can i just say that out of the 20 posts showing on the blog for my other class, more then half of them are poeple freiking out that their semesters are going crazy and their lives BLOW and they dont know what to do with themsleves.
I am not discrediting them, i'm sure their lives really do suck right now, and this is the tme of the semester when people generally freak out anyway, but other then these poeple, i can name over a dozen more that are equally as stressed and worked up and hating life.
Its times like these when i just look around and wonder "what now"? Personally, i feel like i'm sinking academically, like my life is sucking, and like im completely in over my head, and it seems like all the people around me are in the same place. It makes me wonder if i'm in the wrong place. If i can't chnage my life right away, and i cant change their lives, i can change my location, and maybe this isn't the place for me. I take comfort in the fact that in about a month i will be home again with my horse and my dog. Back where things are comfortable and i have places to escape to, where i know the routine and i dont have so much stress, so many people depending on me.
my home life is not a walk in the park, either, but atleast there i know the game im playing. there, atleast i know what battles i can win and which to avoid entirely. i know who gives a damn and who doesnt, who is excited to see me and who could care less. call it homesickness call it dependence, call it what you will, but i'll be so glad to get out of this state.
i hate not being able to cook my own food on my budget, having few releases for my frustration, living in a city, having no place where i can see the stars or fall into a naturey escape away form the cars and horns and pollution.
maybe im old fashioned. maybe im just tapping into my indiginous roots. but life seems so much simpler there. and im counting the seconds til i can go back and stay.
:(
I am not discrediting them, i'm sure their lives really do suck right now, and this is the tme of the semester when people generally freak out anyway, but other then these poeple, i can name over a dozen more that are equally as stressed and worked up and hating life.
Its times like these when i just look around and wonder "what now"? Personally, i feel like i'm sinking academically, like my life is sucking, and like im completely in over my head, and it seems like all the people around me are in the same place. It makes me wonder if i'm in the wrong place. If i can't chnage my life right away, and i cant change their lives, i can change my location, and maybe this isn't the place for me. I take comfort in the fact that in about a month i will be home again with my horse and my dog. Back where things are comfortable and i have places to escape to, where i know the routine and i dont have so much stress, so many people depending on me.
my home life is not a walk in the park, either, but atleast there i know the game im playing. there, atleast i know what battles i can win and which to avoid entirely. i know who gives a damn and who doesnt, who is excited to see me and who could care less. call it homesickness call it dependence, call it what you will, but i'll be so glad to get out of this state.
i hate not being able to cook my own food on my budget, having few releases for my frustration, living in a city, having no place where i can see the stars or fall into a naturey escape away form the cars and horns and pollution.
maybe im old fashioned. maybe im just tapping into my indiginous roots. but life seems so much simpler there. and im counting the seconds til i can go back and stay.
:(
Talking Points "Anita Hill is a Boy"
• Author: Peggy Orenstein
• Title: “Anita Hill is a Boy”
• Argument: Orenstein argues that to teach about male privilege and empower women so that one day our society may have equality, you have to open the dialogue about females being underprivileged, and this can be achieved in a variety of simple or complex ways. The way described by the author in this piece is to have a classroom that is dominated with media from the female gender, honoring female heroes, leaders, authors, and projects. This interesting point is that though the class media is dominantly the female gender, the curriculum is not, but rather focuses equal time on male and female genders, opening the dialogue to have an open discussion about both. This incites oddities in the minds of the students and serves to open the dialogue because it makes them realize the extent to which all their other classes focus on the male gender.
• Quote #1: “(both boys and girls) perceive equality as a loss.” This is in the context that the teacher “should” be focusing dominantly on the male gender and that girls have already “learned their place is to take up less space, feel less worthy of attention, etc.” By having projects that focus equally on men and women, it seems like they are focusing a lot on females, and “unjustly” so. This is the justification many use to try to keep things the way they are, especially against movements like feminism. By having equality on active display in the classroom they are breaking no rule nor affording either group with “too much time”, but rather performing a radical act to open people’s minds to how unequal things are now, in order to promote discussion and change (a charity example would be to fill the room with media of the female gender, change is to continue to use that as a tool to open conversation and incorporate it into the curriculum).
• Quote #2: “I have to dress like this. As a girl, you can’t be accepted unless you wear big clothes. Then it’s like, ‘oh, a girl’ not like ‘oh a body’.” Even in 8th grade you can see how deeply, whether they are aware of it, like this girl, or not, like others, they have already been taught the rules of society. She already realizes that she will be seen for body parts if she dresses in a “popular” way that teaches tight fitting clothes, but if she dressed baggy “like a boy” then people are forced to see her not as parts but as a person. She will also not be seen as ‘desirable’ to many men, and will probably be characterized as either a ‘jock’ or a ‘lesbian’ both of which are viewed as being socially deviant for a female gendered persona and hence “bad”.
• Quote #3: “If I told them I was interested in women’s history, they’d call me a fag. So I just take it and don’t talk about it.” This shows how male gendered people that take the course can find it just as interesting and want to take it, proving that they want to be part of that dialogue. Males, females, and other gendered people all need to be part of the dialogue if equality will ever occurs, but especially the dominant male gendered group. In this school, when the possibility is opened to have the discussion, this male is egger to join, and can still do so and look cool by lying about why he’s there, but the fact that he still has to lie to his friends at all is a sign of how far we still have to go. As far as being called a fag for doing so, that’s so heterosexist I want to puke, but that’s a debate for another time.
• My Response: This reading was a bit of a surprise for me because based on the title I was totally expecting a transgender reading, and frankly bracing myself for a “whole lotta ugly from a never-ending parade of stupid” (thank you Hairspray). But I was happily surprised to find this is reading on “gender” was about overcoming the gender norms that are blatantly in our face everyday. I used to have the debate with my dad (and gave up finally) over the fact that females are still oppressed, and this is one method where that is put blatantly in your face and you are forced to deal with it. Every part of the experience is reflected upon by the teacher and she uses it to relate to her students. What I’m trying to say is that this is dialogue that needs to happen, and not every teacher could tackle it the head-on way she does, but having a mixture of media from male and female genders in the room is a good place to start, and being open to allow that dialogue to occur, and further promoting it, is a great way to tackle the subject as a teacher.
• Title: “Anita Hill is a Boy”
• Argument: Orenstein argues that to teach about male privilege and empower women so that one day our society may have equality, you have to open the dialogue about females being underprivileged, and this can be achieved in a variety of simple or complex ways. The way described by the author in this piece is to have a classroom that is dominated with media from the female gender, honoring female heroes, leaders, authors, and projects. This interesting point is that though the class media is dominantly the female gender, the curriculum is not, but rather focuses equal time on male and female genders, opening the dialogue to have an open discussion about both. This incites oddities in the minds of the students and serves to open the dialogue because it makes them realize the extent to which all their other classes focus on the male gender.
• Quote #1: “(both boys and girls) perceive equality as a loss.” This is in the context that the teacher “should” be focusing dominantly on the male gender and that girls have already “learned their place is to take up less space, feel less worthy of attention, etc.” By having projects that focus equally on men and women, it seems like they are focusing a lot on females, and “unjustly” so. This is the justification many use to try to keep things the way they are, especially against movements like feminism. By having equality on active display in the classroom they are breaking no rule nor affording either group with “too much time”, but rather performing a radical act to open people’s minds to how unequal things are now, in order to promote discussion and change (a charity example would be to fill the room with media of the female gender, change is to continue to use that as a tool to open conversation and incorporate it into the curriculum).
• Quote #2: “I have to dress like this. As a girl, you can’t be accepted unless you wear big clothes. Then it’s like, ‘oh, a girl’ not like ‘oh a body’.” Even in 8th grade you can see how deeply, whether they are aware of it, like this girl, or not, like others, they have already been taught the rules of society. She already realizes that she will be seen for body parts if she dresses in a “popular” way that teaches tight fitting clothes, but if she dressed baggy “like a boy” then people are forced to see her not as parts but as a person. She will also not be seen as ‘desirable’ to many men, and will probably be characterized as either a ‘jock’ or a ‘lesbian’ both of which are viewed as being socially deviant for a female gendered persona and hence “bad”.
• Quote #3: “If I told them I was interested in women’s history, they’d call me a fag. So I just take it and don’t talk about it.” This shows how male gendered people that take the course can find it just as interesting and want to take it, proving that they want to be part of that dialogue. Males, females, and other gendered people all need to be part of the dialogue if equality will ever occurs, but especially the dominant male gendered group. In this school, when the possibility is opened to have the discussion, this male is egger to join, and can still do so and look cool by lying about why he’s there, but the fact that he still has to lie to his friends at all is a sign of how far we still have to go. As far as being called a fag for doing so, that’s so heterosexist I want to puke, but that’s a debate for another time.
• My Response: This reading was a bit of a surprise for me because based on the title I was totally expecting a transgender reading, and frankly bracing myself for a “whole lotta ugly from a never-ending parade of stupid” (thank you Hairspray). But I was happily surprised to find this is reading on “gender” was about overcoming the gender norms that are blatantly in our face everyday. I used to have the debate with my dad (and gave up finally) over the fact that females are still oppressed, and this is one method where that is put blatantly in your face and you are forced to deal with it. Every part of the experience is reflected upon by the teacher and she uses it to relate to her students. What I’m trying to say is that this is dialogue that needs to happen, and not every teacher could tackle it the head-on way she does, but having a mixture of media from male and female genders in the room is a good place to start, and being open to allow that dialogue to occur, and further promoting it, is a great way to tackle the subject as a teacher.
Talking Points "Whites Swim in Racial Preference"
• Author: Tim Wise
• Title: “Whites Swim in Racial Preference”
• Argument: Wise argues that the main problem of racism is that we are hesitant to admit that it exists because when you are part of the dominant group you are among allies and you do not see the injustices or privileges. This has huge connections to Kozol because it is about seeing what is around us, but not really seeing it until we are forced to look at it. That there are privileges that are being given to whites, maybe not directly because they are white, but in a way that, consciously or not, favors those that are white.
• Quote #1: “Whites are currently in the process of inheriting $7-10 trillion in assets from their parents and grandparents (at a time when people of color’s parents and grandparents couldn’t have done the same)”. People gain a lot of property, money, and support, even culture, from the status of their parents, which HEVILY favors the white population that has overwhelmingly held that property and made more money for generations before. For underprivileged groups to defeat and overcome their status and “move up” in society is hard enough with the roadblocks and prejudice already, but to make their fight all the harder they are, more of then not, born into a “lower ranking in society” to begin with.
• Quote #2: “So even the truly talented students of color will be unable to access those extra points simply because of where they live.” This gives direct reference to the fact that race and location are completely intertwined. Look at rural/urban areas. At rural schools you see a disproportionate amount of white kids, while when someone says “inner-city” you think of students of color predominantly. So if you make something available to students only in rural areas, you are subconsciously favoring those white students. This is exactly what defines the article- that you don’t have to think “how can I disadvantage the kids of color” but you can still disadvantage them simply by favoring a place or a thing (such as test scores) that tend to be intertwined with race, and favoring those of the white appearance.
• Quote #3: “but it also presumes ‘that if these whites were black, their life would have remained the same’.” I completely agree that people tend to jump to the conclusion that they could change their identity and still have the same privileges, which isn’t the case. As we saw in a previous reading, when people so much as saw a name that reminded them of a person of color they would automatically discriminate against it. Where you live, where you go to high school, how much attention you get in class, whether your hyperactivity is treated with ADD meds or by sending you to the office or by simply ignoring you, all could be serious indicators of where you end up and what your potential is to even be looking at colleges, never mind which will consider you a good enough applicant to accept you. You life is seriously changed by a change in any part of your inclusion (or not) into the culture of power.
• My Response: I love the quote reference to how fish don’t know the name of the water they swim in because they take it for granted. Likewise, we don’t know the privileges we posses. Seeing Tim Wise talking about the election really resonated with me. It’s so true that just because one Man of color “made it” to presidency doesn’t mean that we have racial equality in the world. Just because a woman was in the running doesn’t mean the two dominant genders are equal. The world, and our country heavily included, has a long way to go before the culture of power realizes the power it holds, and longer still before we can work to equalize it. It wont happen overnight, but being aware of it and passing that awareness onto others seems to be a clear first step in the journey.
• Title: “Whites Swim in Racial Preference”
• Argument: Wise argues that the main problem of racism is that we are hesitant to admit that it exists because when you are part of the dominant group you are among allies and you do not see the injustices or privileges. This has huge connections to Kozol because it is about seeing what is around us, but not really seeing it until we are forced to look at it. That there are privileges that are being given to whites, maybe not directly because they are white, but in a way that, consciously or not, favors those that are white.
• Quote #1: “Whites are currently in the process of inheriting $7-10 trillion in assets from their parents and grandparents (at a time when people of color’s parents and grandparents couldn’t have done the same)”. People gain a lot of property, money, and support, even culture, from the status of their parents, which HEVILY favors the white population that has overwhelmingly held that property and made more money for generations before. For underprivileged groups to defeat and overcome their status and “move up” in society is hard enough with the roadblocks and prejudice already, but to make their fight all the harder they are, more of then not, born into a “lower ranking in society” to begin with.
• Quote #2: “So even the truly talented students of color will be unable to access those extra points simply because of where they live.” This gives direct reference to the fact that race and location are completely intertwined. Look at rural/urban areas. At rural schools you see a disproportionate amount of white kids, while when someone says “inner-city” you think of students of color predominantly. So if you make something available to students only in rural areas, you are subconsciously favoring those white students. This is exactly what defines the article- that you don’t have to think “how can I disadvantage the kids of color” but you can still disadvantage them simply by favoring a place or a thing (such as test scores) that tend to be intertwined with race, and favoring those of the white appearance.
• Quote #3: “but it also presumes ‘that if these whites were black, their life would have remained the same’.” I completely agree that people tend to jump to the conclusion that they could change their identity and still have the same privileges, which isn’t the case. As we saw in a previous reading, when people so much as saw a name that reminded them of a person of color they would automatically discriminate against it. Where you live, where you go to high school, how much attention you get in class, whether your hyperactivity is treated with ADD meds or by sending you to the office or by simply ignoring you, all could be serious indicators of where you end up and what your potential is to even be looking at colleges, never mind which will consider you a good enough applicant to accept you. You life is seriously changed by a change in any part of your inclusion (or not) into the culture of power.
• My Response: I love the quote reference to how fish don’t know the name of the water they swim in because they take it for granted. Likewise, we don’t know the privileges we posses. Seeing Tim Wise talking about the election really resonated with me. It’s so true that just because one Man of color “made it” to presidency doesn’t mean that we have racial equality in the world. Just because a woman was in the running doesn’t mean the two dominant genders are equal. The world, and our country heavily included, has a long way to go before the culture of power realizes the power it holds, and longer still before we can work to equalize it. It wont happen overnight, but being aware of it and passing that awareness onto others seems to be a clear first step in the journey.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Problem.
As i have been going through my journal entries from the past few weeks trying to pick them apart and see various authors in them, i am finding it very easy to connect to Delpit, and at times Johnson but a bit of a stretch to connect to others. Do you feel the same way? What author are you seeing most? Do the connections pop out at you or do you feel like you have to pry for them? Do they feel like strong examples or do you feel like you're bending and prying to get something to stretch and fit into a perticular box?
Thanks! kt
Thanks! kt
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Talking Points "The Service of What"
• Author: Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer
• Title: In the Service of What
• Argument: Westheimer and Kahne argue that service learning has been a suggested requirement of today's youth by a number of groups- and that community service is the key, but that there is not enough focus on the context. They think we need to also focus on why things are the way they are and what our service does to help and what can be done to further help, not just go through the motions and call it a day.
• Quote #1: The goal is to "promote student's self-esteem, devlop higher-order thinking skills, make use of multiple abilities, and provide authentic learning experiences." Doesn;t that sound like an SAT study course? The thought is good- that we need to stimulate and develop through the program, not tack on a requirement for the sake of doing so. But what is an authentic learning experience? Is my experience more authentic then yours? Was my childhood more authentic then yours? I understand that it wants us to leave the classroom and the books and actually experience a different side of our world, atleast for me, but i wouldn't say anyone is going to have a more authentic time then anyoine else.
• Quote #2: "In many service learning projects the emphasis is on the giving and countering the narcissism that is believed to be so prevalent amoung young poeple in society generally." Ok, so maybe not an authentic experience but one that "opens your eyes to the hooros of the world"?! I agree that many people, especially in youger generations are glued to the tv and video games and such, but their eyes will only be opened if they want them to be. If the student goes into the project "to get it done" they will be no less self focused then before. Or, on the opposite, if already not self focused, is may not help them get even less so.
• Quote #3: "Students testify to the transformative experience of service learning." The argument is that everyone will get something out of it, or enough people that it will be worth having everyone do it. I want to again stress that you have to want to have that experience and not just go through the motions. Later they mention the importance of reflection, and i agree that this is very important but stress that that, too can be bullshitted through. I dont mean to be so blunt, but those doing for the grade will get the grade and move on, and those that are even the least bit excited will be the ones having a genuinly mind-opening experience.
• My Responce: Personally, i hear what the article is saying but i don't always agree with the nominclature. The idea of service learning itself is something i completely support, and i am so thrilled to be able to participate. I agree with the authors that it needs to be about more then the service but including reflection as well, however i think that it will only be genuine from those that are genuine. I'm not saying its easy to tell the difference or someone may seem against service learning when they are really enjoying it and dont want to admit it, but that making it a rewarded suggestion instead of a requirement might be more effecting to those in the learning and those being serviced.
• Title: In the Service of What
• Argument: Westheimer and Kahne argue that service learning has been a suggested requirement of today's youth by a number of groups- and that community service is the key, but that there is not enough focus on the context. They think we need to also focus on why things are the way they are and what our service does to help and what can be done to further help, not just go through the motions and call it a day.
• Quote #1: The goal is to "promote student's self-esteem, devlop higher-order thinking skills, make use of multiple abilities, and provide authentic learning experiences." Doesn;t that sound like an SAT study course? The thought is good- that we need to stimulate and develop through the program, not tack on a requirement for the sake of doing so. But what is an authentic learning experience? Is my experience more authentic then yours? Was my childhood more authentic then yours? I understand that it wants us to leave the classroom and the books and actually experience a different side of our world, atleast for me, but i wouldn't say anyone is going to have a more authentic time then anyoine else.
• Quote #2: "In many service learning projects the emphasis is on the giving and countering the narcissism that is believed to be so prevalent amoung young poeple in society generally." Ok, so maybe not an authentic experience but one that "opens your eyes to the hooros of the world"?! I agree that many people, especially in youger generations are glued to the tv and video games and such, but their eyes will only be opened if they want them to be. If the student goes into the project "to get it done" they will be no less self focused then before. Or, on the opposite, if already not self focused, is may not help them get even less so.
• Quote #3: "Students testify to the transformative experience of service learning." The argument is that everyone will get something out of it, or enough people that it will be worth having everyone do it. I want to again stress that you have to want to have that experience and not just go through the motions. Later they mention the importance of reflection, and i agree that this is very important but stress that that, too can be bullshitted through. I dont mean to be so blunt, but those doing for the grade will get the grade and move on, and those that are even the least bit excited will be the ones having a genuinly mind-opening experience.
• My Responce: Personally, i hear what the article is saying but i don't always agree with the nominclature. The idea of service learning itself is something i completely support, and i am so thrilled to be able to participate. I agree with the authors that it needs to be about more then the service but including reflection as well, however i think that it will only be genuine from those that are genuine. I'm not saying its easy to tell the difference or someone may seem against service learning when they are really enjoying it and dont want to admit it, but that making it a rewarded suggestion instead of a requirement might be more effecting to those in the learning and those being serviced.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Buying my dream car
It's a 2001 Toyota Echo.
Pix and stuff to come.
Getting the title signed over tomorrow
then registration Wed.
can't wait!
Pix and stuff to come.
Getting the title signed over tomorrow
then registration Wed.
can't wait!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Talking Points "Myths That Bind Us"
• Author: Linda Christiensen
• Title: Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us
• Argument: Christensen argues that through dominant media we are told how to view ourselves and those around us and that it is dominanted by the lens of the culture of power. Like Macintosh, she argues that we need to see this SCWAMMP privilage for what it is if we are going to go about changing it.
• Quote #1: "No one wants to admit that they've been handled by the media." This is Johnson all over- NAME IT, own it. You have to realise that you ARE shaped by your culture, be that form your parent's ideals, school, childeren's books, magazines, barbie, tonka trucks, or the color blue. I remember that smash hit that happened when they made a "lifesize barbie" that you could share your clothes with- except that they never fit right becasuse REAL five year olds do not look like barbie. The media is all around us, and to resist it we first have to see it.
• Quote #2: "If the race of the charecter is the only thing changing, the injustices will still remian." Okay, so snow white is now mocha caramel, but if she still is helpless without men around her, capible of only cleaning and singing and looking pretty, needing a man to come save her, then we're no better off. What about mocha caramel that goes hunting and teaches karate to the men so they can defend themselves when she isn't around that goes camping on weekends and maintains a trapline? Maybe thats a stretch- but atleast its different then the norm of your typical disney woman that looks like playboy and ends up being a princess.
• Quote #3: "Happiness means getting a man, a transformation from wretched conditions can be achieved by consumption..." Oh the dominant ideology leaves so much to be desired. It leaves no space for the LGBTQQI community, or for any woman who is happily independant. Also, shopping will cure all. If you have golden slippers, legs, a sparkly dress, blond hair, and VERY fair skin you'll be perfect- but if not- you can always buy them. Won't that be great- another generation of spenders that can max out their credit cards on shoes and get their temporary high only to have to go out and do the same next weekend. But it will make you a princess, and make prince carming come rescue you from bordom and your incapible self- so isn't that a good thing?
• My Responce: I found a book in the Unity Center the other day called "Daddy's Roomate" and i was terrified about what they would do to make the gay community sound bad to little kids. I was very happily surprised to find it did a very nice job of explaining the community. Books like this are just not as availible as they should be. Media is so ingrianed in everything we do and how we see ourselves. We as women feel incomplete if we don't have big hips and round brests (like a post-pubesent woman) but shaved legs, arms, vagina, and pits (like a pre-pubescent child). If men aren't tall, ripped, and hung then they fail at life. I had a teacher on the board the other day label two triangles as male and female (she first marked the blue one as female and then, appologized to the class for her "mistake"). Media, staing in the home and school, shapes how we view eachother and ourselves for the rest of our lives, and if that can't include any tomboyish women or black men or buddhist people, then why would we view it as "normal"? :(
• Title: Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us
• Argument: Christensen argues that through dominant media we are told how to view ourselves and those around us and that it is dominanted by the lens of the culture of power. Like Macintosh, she argues that we need to see this SCWAMMP privilage for what it is if we are going to go about changing it.
• Quote #1: "No one wants to admit that they've been handled by the media." This is Johnson all over- NAME IT, own it. You have to realise that you ARE shaped by your culture, be that form your parent's ideals, school, childeren's books, magazines, barbie, tonka trucks, or the color blue. I remember that smash hit that happened when they made a "lifesize barbie" that you could share your clothes with- except that they never fit right becasuse REAL five year olds do not look like barbie. The media is all around us, and to resist it we first have to see it.
• Quote #2: "If the race of the charecter is the only thing changing, the injustices will still remian." Okay, so snow white is now mocha caramel, but if she still is helpless without men around her, capible of only cleaning and singing and looking pretty, needing a man to come save her, then we're no better off. What about mocha caramel that goes hunting and teaches karate to the men so they can defend themselves when she isn't around that goes camping on weekends and maintains a trapline? Maybe thats a stretch- but atleast its different then the norm of your typical disney woman that looks like playboy and ends up being a princess.
• Quote #3: "Happiness means getting a man, a transformation from wretched conditions can be achieved by consumption..." Oh the dominant ideology leaves so much to be desired. It leaves no space for the LGBTQQI community, or for any woman who is happily independant. Also, shopping will cure all. If you have golden slippers, legs, a sparkly dress, blond hair, and VERY fair skin you'll be perfect- but if not- you can always buy them. Won't that be great- another generation of spenders that can max out their credit cards on shoes and get their temporary high only to have to go out and do the same next weekend. But it will make you a princess, and make prince carming come rescue you from bordom and your incapible self- so isn't that a good thing?
• My Responce: I found a book in the Unity Center the other day called "Daddy's Roomate" and i was terrified about what they would do to make the gay community sound bad to little kids. I was very happily surprised to find it did a very nice job of explaining the community. Books like this are just not as availible as they should be. Media is so ingrianed in everything we do and how we see ourselves. We as women feel incomplete if we don't have big hips and round brests (like a post-pubesent woman) but shaved legs, arms, vagina, and pits (like a pre-pubescent child). If men aren't tall, ripped, and hung then they fail at life. I had a teacher on the board the other day label two triangles as male and female (she first marked the blue one as female and then, appologized to the class for her "mistake"). Media, staing in the home and school, shapes how we view eachother and ourselves for the rest of our lives, and if that can't include any tomboyish women or black men or buddhist people, then why would we view it as "normal"? :(
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